NFL stadium falls leave 1 fan dead, 2 hurt

A football fan fell from an elevated pedestrian walkway and died at San Francisco's Candlestick Park, seen here in November, 2012, Sunday during the 49ers-Green Bay Packers game.

SAN FRANCISCO — Medical examiners have identified a football fan who fell from an elevated walkway at Candlestick Park as 32-year-old Kevin Hayes of Hayward, Calif.

At the 49ers’ game against the Packers at Candlestick Park Sunday, Hayes fell to his death from an elevated walkway, said an investigator at the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s office.

The death came just after kickoff in  San Francisco’s 34-28 win over Green Bay, police said, and multiple witnesses reported the man appeared to be intoxicated before he fell to a sidewalk.

The same day, a railing collapsed at the Colts’ game against the Raiders in Indianapolis injuring two unidentified fans who were leaning against the barrier above the tunnel leading to Oakland’s locker room.

One person was taken away on a stretcher, while another left in a wheelchair, witnesses said.

After the Colts 21-17 victory, Barney Levengood, executive director of the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium, issued a statement that said one of the people was released after receiving medical attention at the stadium. The other person was treated at the stadium and transported to Methodist Hospital for additional evaluation. Levengood said that the second fan did not appear to be seriously injured.

In San Francisco, police spokesman Gordon Shyy said off-duty medics and police officers gave the Hayes first aid until an ambulance arrived, but he was declared dead from his injuries.

In a statement, 49ers spokesman Bob Lange confirmed the team had learned of the accident outside the stadium. “We would like to express our deepest condolences to the family during this difficult time,” he said in an email.

It was not clear how far the Hayes fell from the Jamestown walkway, which goes around the outside of Candlestick.

The historic sports complex closes after this season and will be replaced by a shopping center. Next year, the 49ers will move into a $1.2 billion stadium at the team’s Silicon Valley headquarters in Santa Clara.

Since 2003, there have been more than two dozen cases of fans falling at stadiums across the United States, according to the Institute for the Study of Sports Incidents.

Most recently in Atlanta, baseball fan Ronald Lee Homer Jr. died last month after falling 85 feet following a tumble over Turner Field’s fourth-level railing. Homer’s death was the third at an Atlanta stadium in the past year.

Also last month in Denver, Broncos fan Noel Robinson was injured when he fell about 10 feet from an escalator at a preseason game.